One of the most exciting annual events of the information security and cybersecurity industries is the RSA Conference. Among the attendees, you will find a fascinating mix of enterprise executives, hackers, infosec researchers, cybersecurity students, and seasoned privacy regulation experts.
The agenda for the 2023 USA RSA conference, scheduled for April 24-27, is packed full of hundreds of workshops, sessions, lectures, and panel discussions about the various aspects of data and system security. The theme for this year’s RSA conference is “stronger together.” It focuses on collaboration in cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, and the challenges of securing systems in a world populated with increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals.
If you’re a CISO planning to attend the 2023 RSA conference in San Francisco, you have two options.
- Review all 200+ events and sessions currently listed in the agenda (that excludes networking events and other activities) to populate your calendar.
- Wait and hope that the insightful and beneficial events will still have room for you when you arrive.
Neither option sounds very tempting, so instead, you can check out our top seventeen recommendations for events and sessions you may want to reserve a seat for in advance on the conference website.
RSA classifies some of the sessions according to track, type, or format, as well as the level of technical proficiency required to benefit from the content. In our list, we’ve narrowed down the categories to the human factor, laws, and technology. We also included a bonus category for events and sessions that sound like a good fun break.
The Human Factor
Misinformation Is the New Malware
There’s no firewall for lies, but malefactors can weaponize them. This session will explore misinformation as the newest cyber threat and discuss security professionals’ role in protecting the truth.
When: Monday, Apr. 24, 2023, 8:30 AM – 9:20 AM PT
Participants: Ted Schlein
How to Create a Breach-Deterrent Culture of Cybersecurity, from Board Down
Cybersecurity is often an afterthought, even for large enterprises. Until it isn’t, this C-suite track panel provides the specific process to bridge the widening gap between CISO, compliance, and technology as “the answer” vs. effective cybersecurity culture.
When: Monday, Apr. 24, 2023, 9:40 AM – 10:30 AM PT
Participants: Dana Linnet, Andrzej Cetnarski, and Marcus Sachs
Securing the Last Frontier: Employee Personal Security and Privacy
The personal accounts of employees are typically outside the jurisdiction of information security teams. However, that doesn’t mean your employees have to put your business at risk when using personal accounts. This session will look at security breaches as case studies to study the technical and non-technical exploitable vulnerabilities and to develop potential solutions.
When: Monday, Apr. 24, 2023, 1:10 PM – 2:00 PM PT
Participants: Ben Halpert
Phishing With a Net: The NIST Phish Scale and Cybersecurity Awareness
Most employee phishing training programs consider click rates as the sole metric for a program’s effectiveness. This session will show you how the NIST Phish Scale can contextualize the human element to recorded click rates.
When: Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2023, 8:30 AM – 9:20 AM PT
Participants: Dr. Shanée Dawkins, Jody Jacobs
The Emperor Has No Clothes: the Current State of the CISO
In this talk, two cybersecurity veterans will discuss the actual roles of CISOs in today’s cyber climate compared to what the community thinks it is.
When: Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023, 2:25 PM – 3:15 PM PT
Participants: Rick Howard, Todd Inskeep
Employees Are the New Perimeter- How the Pandemic Shaped Workforce Risk
This talk will examine results from studying 6M real user actions to identify how work from home changed user behavior. Then the talk will discuss how and what security teams can learn from this new reality.
When: Thursday, Apr. 27, 2023, 9:40 AM – 10:30 AM PT
Participants: Ben Edwards, Masha Sedova
Protecting the Organization: The Psychology of Social Engineering
How can you protect your organization from social engineering? This talk will cover the role that psychology plays in different types of social engineering attacks and offer suggestions for how to mitigate social engineering attacks on your organization.
When: Thursday, Apr. 27, 2023, 9:40 AM – 10:30 AM PT
Participants: Rachael Tubbs
Law
Playing With Fire? The Latest Cyber Law Hot Topics
The first session in the law track at RSA 2023 is a panel on critical emerging legal topics relating to corporate cybersecurity. The focus of this session is on critical emerging issues, including trust systems, privacy and surveillance, the role of AI, and C-Suite cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
When: Monday, Apr. 24, 2023, 8:30 AM – 9:20 AM PT
Participants: Michael Aisenberg, Ruth Bro, Cynthia Cwik, Lucy Thompson
Ten Legal Issues for CISOs
CISO is a multidisciplinary role that demands familiarity with legal issues pertaining to information security. But which are the most critical ones to know in 2023? This session aims to provide CISOs with an overview of ten of the challenges with laws, and legislation CISOs are likely to face in 2023.
When: Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023, 1:15 PM – 2:05 PM PT
Participants: Steve Black
CISO Legal Risks and Liabilities
Remember Uber’s ex-CISO, Joe Sullivan, who was convicted in relation to a data breach? You don’t want to walk in his shoes. This panel will discuss, among other topics, what the trial results mean for CISOs, and what CISOs can do today to protect themselves from liability.
When: Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023, 1:15 PM – 2:05 PM PT
Moderator: Gadi Evron
Technology
The Devil’s in the Data: Role of Data Governance in Cyber Risk Mitigation
This session in the C-Suite track will include experiential insights and give you practical guidance to position your corporate data and information program as a key tool in protecting the organization.
When: Monday, Apr. 24, 2023, 10:50 AM – 11:40 AM PT
Participants: Raymond Umerley
Crucial Cyber Hygiene Defenses for 2023
The SANS Institute, the Center for Internet Security, and numerous security researchers from around the world have long since partnered to define the core technical cyber hygiene principles that organizations should implement. In this presentation, you will learn of the most crucial technical defenses to prioritize in 2023.
When: Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2023, 1:15 PM – 2:05 PM PT
Participants: James Tarala
Reset Assumptions: Rate of Security Control Degradation and How to Reset
What is the Rate of Security Control Degradation, and what is the contribution it has on the root cause of intrusions? This session will propose a security control reset life cycle that involves unscheduled tests in the context of specific threat scenarios, control points, and other vital steps to take to maintain your security posture over time.
When: Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023, 8:30 AM – 9:20 AM PT
Participants: Tim Rohrbaugh
The Megatrends Driving Cloud Adoption – and Improving Security – for All
In this session, the CISO at Google Cloud will walk you through the megatrends driving cloud security, share best practices for transitioning to the cloud, and try to convince you why the cloud is ultimately the most secure option for your business.
When: Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023, 8:30 AM – 9:20 AM PT
Participants: Phil Venables
How to Adapt to Security Changes in Cloud SaaS Transformation
It may not seem like it, but the largest benefit of moving to the cloud is security, especially when compared to on-premise environments. This session will show you how to compare and evaluate the on-premise security posture to a SaaS cloud environment in a detailed framework.
When: Thursday, Apr. 27, 2023, 10:50 AM – 11:40 AM PT
Participants: David Cross
Just for Fun
Backdoors & Breaches: Live Tabletop Exercise Demo
Playing games while learning how to deal with breaches? Yes, please! Backdoors & Breaches is an incident response card game you can use to conduct fun, engaging, and effective exercises with your team. This live session of Backdoors & Breaches will let you engage with the game’s creators and learn how to play while playing.
When: Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2023, 4:45 PM – 6:00 PM PT
Participants: Jason Blanchard, John Strand
RSAC CyBEER Ops
Networking, exploration, and game night! Enjoy some craft brews, non-alcoholic beverages, and tasty bits while you explore 50 startups and hands-on activities from exhibitors and brands.
When: Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2023, 4:30 PM – 6:15 PM PT
Stronger together at RSA USA 2023
It is worth noting that our list includes the sessions and events geared at CISO at enterprises across industries. There are quite a few events and sessions with industry-specific focus, like fintech, maritime, and aviation industries. In addition, RSA this year features a unique track on inclusive security, tackling the topics of diversity and inclusion in the cybersecurity field.
Having narrowed down your list of potential events to attend from 200+ to a reasonable seventeen, you’ll have a much easier time getting ready for your trip.
At CybeReady, we’ve embraced the concept of “stronger together”, and used this to take Security Awareness Training to the next level. Our data-driven solution gathers data and uses it better help you safeguard your organization from cyber threats. And the best thing? The more customers use the solution, the more data is fed into the platform, and the better the training becomes, both internally, and for the whole CybeReady userbase.
Let’s get even stronger together at RSAC 2023! CybeReady will be meeting InfoSec leaders at Oren’s Hummus, 71 3rd st., San Francisco on Wednesday, April 26th, between 11 am – 3 pm. Save your spot here and enjoy a complimentary, delicious lunch buffet!
Have a safe (pun intended) trip!
